Harder to lose weight when you get older?

Definitely. I'm 54, and no matter how carefully I eat, if I don't combine it with a good amount of exercise, I start putting pounds back on. At least that makes for good motivation for hitting the road.

I like to think of it as being "in it for the long haul'. As long I'm losing weight when I exercise regularly, I don't worry TOO much about how fast it comes off. A half-pound a week is still 26 pounds per year!

It is harder, I am 53 . My doctor told me to concentrate on protein more, he recommends 80 to 100 grams a day. Also water is very good, and vitamins. You want to feel at your very best. Good luck!

For me it is easier now than when I was 19 or 20 because I am doing it the right way instead of starving myself and making myself ill.

For me, YES. I am 40.
It started getting harder around 33, but boy-oh-boy- 40 is worse than 33, LOL.
partly becuase it seems to take "less food and more moving" than it did when I was 20 and partly because now a 15 minute bike ride KILLS ME and at 20 yrs old I could ride an hour without blinking.

(feel free to add me if you want)

i turned 40 this year too and oh yes it's harder. i sometimes feel like for the amount of time and energy i put into exercising i should be a LOT lighter than i am but alias i'm not and i blame my age. DAMN 40! lol

however, i am certainly healthier than i was in my 20s.

Hi,

i just turned 40 and although I am happy that I have been losing weight, it seems like it is much harder and taking longer.
Is it because of my age. I remember people saying that the older you get, the harder it is to lose weight.
Is that true?

It is very frustrating, wondering what other people's experiences are?

Thanks!

I wouldn't say it's any harder to lose weight as we get older. It just takes a heck of a lot longer! :ohwell:

I work out 6 days a week for 1-3 hours alongside my much younger friends (I'm 56 and they're 30s-40s). We each wear heart rate monitors and compare our calorie burns after class. I typically burn 250-350 calories/per hour, while they easily burn twice as much as I do! :grumble: I've had noticeable changes in my body, so I'm not complaining.

I am also finding it harder. I turned 41 this year and it seems to take so much more work just to lose a little weight. It is hard to stay motivated some times.

I never really tried when I was younger. I was a couple months shy of 41 when I started on MFP last July. It took about 4 months to lose 20 lbs. I felt like it was relatively quick for me - the first 20 lbs. The next 10 lbs took another 4 months, but it was also the holidays and I was eating more...

Hi,

i just turned 40 and although I am happy that I have been losing weight, it seems like it is much harder and taking longer.
Is it because of my age. I remember people saying that the older you get, the harder it is to lose weight.
Is that true?

It is very frustrating, wondering what other people's experiences are?

Thanks!

I think so from personal experience. Besides, you will notice that everything that happens from now on will be attributed to age, specially from your doctor.

It turns out that for most people, age-related weight gain is due in large part to a dramatic decrease in calories burned. While lower levels of physical activity play a large role in the decreased energy expenditure, an age-related decline in metabolic rate is also to blame.

A study evaluating total energy expenditure (TEE) – the sum of calories burned from the basal metabolic rate (metabolism), the energy required to digest and absorb food, and physical activity – confirmed what most people already know: energy expenditure decreases with age.

Basal metabolic rate, which accounts for about 50 to 70 percent of TEE, is thought to decrease about one to two percent per decade. That is, after a person reaches 20 years old, daily energy expenditure decreases about 150 calories per decade. The decline is probably due to decreased muscle mass (which is highly metabolically-active) and increased fat mass (which is relatively metabolically-inactive).

Some studies have also found that, even when controlling for fat-free mass, basal metabolic rate is five percent lower in older compared with younger adults. It is not clear why, but some researchers speculate that it may be due to an unavoidable loss of very metabolically-active organ tissue, or a decreased metabolic rate within muscle tissues. Decline seems to be most rapid after 40 years old in men and 50 years old in women.

In sum, the number of calories burned per day decreases with age. This reality is widely accepted and is even built in to formulas that estimate resting energy expenditure. The age-related decline in energy expenditure is largely due to decreased metabolic rate — which results from decreased lean mass and increased fat mass — and decreased levels of physical activity.

http://www.acefitness.org/blog/2315/is-it-true-that-metabolism-decreases-with-age

Another yes! It does take longer, and I have to workout much longer and harder than I did in my younger years. I'm over fifty and it takes the scales a longer time to move in the downward direction. I joined MFP in March. It took about 6 weeks for me to see a loss. :frown: just keep logging and exercising!

6 weeks to see a loss? Wow, took about waiting a long time. I admire your dedication.

Thanks!